The life and faith of Abraham. Part 8 – Lunch and laughs. Genesis 18:1-15.

Some days, you know,

going to be big.

Like when you have important exam

results and everything has been leading

up to that moment, you know it's going

to be a big day.

Or perhaps for those of you who are

married, when you get married, you know

that's going to be a big day. Or perhaps

even when you get baptized, it's a it's

a big day, isn't it?

Other days you think are going to be

normal.

But then they take a very unexpected

turn.

Uh you go to work and your boss takes

you aside and says,

"Your services are no longer needed."

Or the car crash you never saw saw

coming.

Some of our days

will be etched on our minds

forever.

And we've reached a day that would have

been etched on Sarah's mind

>> [snorts]

>> forever. The day that she laughed

at the Lord. And he heard her.

The day she lied to the Lord

and he called her out.

But that wasn't all that happened on

this day. It was also the day when God

showed her amazing grace

and brought forth a renewed faith in

her.

The Lord appeared to Abraham and but as

we'll see in the first instance,

the Lord is really coming for Sarah.

So let's look at this remarkable account

in our first point, the Lord appears.

Uh

that's good. All right, well, um we as a

family were watching this film the other

day called A Remarkably Bright

Creatures. It's about a lady who cleans

her local aquarium and she has a special

bond with an octopus. It sounds daft and

it is a little bit daft,

but we all enjoyed it. Um about halfway

through, one of my daughters, Ruby, she

thought she'd sussed out the plot. And

as she explained it, I felt all the cogs

in my head sort of whirring, and pieces

were coming into place. I thought,

"Yeah." And I was like I was getting I

was starting to understand what was

going on. As it turned out, she was only

half right.

Sorry, Ruby. Don't mean to embarrass

you.

Um but but there was this gradual

revelation, this gradual dawning of what

was going on in the film.

And in this account, it's not clear uh

how much Abraham knows and at what point

he knows it. Of course, he may have

instantly recognized the Lord. In

chapter 17, he's already met with the

Lord, but was that in the same way? Did

he appear in the same form? We're not

entirely sure.

Many people suspect the truth is that it

dawns upon him. What's happening dawns

upon him as this account unfolds.

But by the end of it, he is in no doubt.

He is speaking to the Lord.

Now, what we have here is what's known

as a theophany.

It's sometimes uh called a christophany.

I'm going to call it a Basically, it's a

theophany. It's when God

is seen. When you can see God in some

way. That's what a theophany is.

And this whole account, this whole

theophany,

there is ambiguity.

He's ambiguous. It's it's it's

mysterious.

But there is so much we can learn about

it, even though we might have questions

about it.

We don't know how long it's been since

the events of chapter 17.

With all that stuff about circumcision

and all that that we thought about last

week. Maybe a week, maybe 2 weeks, maybe

a little bit more. We don't know, but

probably not that long.

But Abraham

is here. He's chilling at the the door

of his tent. He's He's doing that

because it's midday.

It's siesta time. It was too hot to

work. Not a lot could be done

uh uh at that point. And what's Abraham

thinking about? Well, we're not told,

are we?

If we use our imagination, though,

perhaps he's mulling over how

despite the amazing promises God has

given him and Sarah,

she just doesn't seem to be on board.

Sarah's struggling to take in this

latest salvo of pie-in-the-sky promises

that God has given them.

It seems to her

God keeps promising stuff

that doesn't ever happen.

Abraham seems to believe, but his wife,

perhaps understandably,

given everything that's occurred and the

situation they're in, she seems a bit

more cynical.

Now, as any married person will tell

you,

when you're not on the same page as your

wife or your husband,

it's difficult.

Life

is uneasy, and there's a tension in the

air,

and

you know, it's it's just Yeah, it you're

not comfortable. You When when things

are not quite aligned up there.

Maybe, if we're right, Abraham's

thinking these things through. When he

wakes he sees his eyes and there are

these three men. Where did they come

from? They They're just there. They just

appear there.

Now, in that culture, to come that

close, not too close, but to come that

close, that's equivalent to knocking on

the door. They've come to that sort of

vicinity. They are effectively knocking

on the door.

No one saw them come. No one sounded the

alarm. He didn't hear them approach.

Uh perhaps that alerts to him him to the

fact that there's something special

about these visitors. They're They're

just there.

But whatever he understands at this

point is enough to make this

99-year-old,

this respected local dignitary of a man,

jump up and run.

And then he gets there and he bows all

the way down to the earth. This is

beyond the the natural bow of courtesy.

This is the sign of

utmost respect.

>> [snorts]

>> In that culture, of course, you're

expected to show hospitality.

But Abraham seems to go beyond. A mere

meal, a a mere meal.

He gets Sarah to use the

fine flour. Don't use the Aldi stuff. Go

to M&S. Get the the proper stuff, you

know, that we need the the good stuff

here.

And he asks her to bake enough bread for

a small army. It's not It's not enough

just for three men. It's like for for

everyone.

And then Abraham himself, verse seven,

he again he runs. This is unusual.

Remember, it's the heat of the day. He's

running

to personally choose a tender and good

calf. Not any old calf. He wants to make

sure the best is served. And then he

gets a a young man to do the heavy,

messy work. It would have been a lot of

work to butcher a calf. So, he's good,

he delegates there, but he's got work of

his own. He wants to go and prepare the

the milk and the curds.

Do you see the urgency? He's running

about. He's delegating. He's

instructing. He's directing. This man is

on an urgent mission.

And he serves what's being called a

feast that's almost fit for a king.

The urgency, the extravagance surely

suggests he has at least some inkling of

the nature of his guests at this point.

And he's humble, too.

Verse three.

"If I have found favor in your sight."

Then in verse five, he refers to himself

as your servant. Then in verse eight, he

stands quietly in their presence like a

butler

awaiting his master's command.

The powerful,

rich, respected Abraham recognizes in

this situation he is the servant.

And he doesn't delegate this particular

act of service. He stands there

in their presence.

Perhaps he's not fully aware of whose

presence he's in, maybe he is, but he

certainly seems to have an idea. And so

he's urgent, he's he's humble, he's he's

giving his best. He serves standing

there quietly in the presence

of the Lord.

>> [snorts]

>> Oh, that we

would have hearts that are quick to

humble ourselves.

We're very quick

to

puff ourselves up, aren't we, when

something happens?

>> [sighs and snorts]

>> He's very quick here to humble himself

before the Lord.

Oh, that we

would have hearts that long to run into

the presence

of the Lord, of our rock, our redeemer.

It's the middle of the day, it's hot,

and we know a thing or two about hot

days now, don't we?

But surely if we recognize who our God

is, how wonderful he is, what mercy

there is when we when we meet with him,

when we realize I can stand in the

presence of God.

I can hear him speak in his word.

We can know a special presence as we

meet around the Lord's table like like

we're going to do tonight.

We can enjoy fellowship with his family

when we come together. If we grasp these

things, would we not treasure our times

with him more? Would do not treasure our

times together more?

Will it not be our thrill,

our priority,

our joy, even when it's inconvenient and

it's too hard, it's uncomfortable,

to serve, and to welcome, and to be with

our Lord? Don't you want a heart like

that? This I've got to be there.

I'm not suggesting if medically it's

unwise for you to come out or, you know,

we we have to be sensible about these

things, but if we can,

don't we want to be meeting with the

Lord and his people?

I wonder to what extent we recognized

who we have access to in Christ Jesus.

It's God Almighty, El Shaddai, the Holy

One.

Our Father.

Hospitality

um is important in the Middle East, and

it still is.

And hospitality is important in the New

Testament, too. Jesus and the apostles

relied on the hospitality of other

people. Uh much of early church ministry

was carried out in the homes of of of

people.

In Acts chapter 2, we read that they

Acts 2 · chapter mention

broke bread in daily in their homes.

They were together

as a family.

Obviously, for us in our culture and our

times, it's it's slightly different, and

we have to be flexible, not too rigid

about how we interpret these things, but

it's worth remembering the Bible expects

Christians to be hospitable to one

another.

Hebrews chapter 13, verse 2. Do not

Hebrews 13:2

neglect to show hos- hospitality to

strangers,

for thereby some have entertained angels

unawares. Perhaps the writer of Hebrews,

when he wrote that, perhaps he has this

very account in his mind.

Hospitality is more than just having

people around for Sunday lunch. It is

that, and that's a good start.

I'm not trying to make people feel

guilty here. I say this as much to

myself as as to everyone else. I say

this for our good, for our instruction

as a church. We are commanded to

practice hospitality

to one another and and to other people

as well.

To welcome people.

To provide for them, to refresh them.

And when we do that, I think we will be

surprised. There is mutual blessing

when we give of ourselves to others.

Remember what Jesus said in the parable

in Matthew 25:40.

Matthew 25:40

Truly I say to you, as you did it to one

of the least

of these, my brothers,

you did it to me.

You know, I'm sure if if Jesus turned up

to your house, you would do what Abraham

did, wouldn't you? You'd be running

around. Quick, let's get the best stuff

out. Let's get the fine china out. Let's

get out the you know, the good cup of

tea stuff. You know, all that stuff. You

would want to serve something that was

good.

And Jesus says, when you serve even the

least of my people,

you're doing it

for me.

That's challenging, isn't it?

I find that challenging anyway.

I wonder if practicing hospitality is

fallen a little bit off our agenda

cuz life is busy.

Maybe we just need to

bring it up a bit.

Well, I've entitled this point, this

first point, the Lord appears. So,

how do we know it is the Lord?

Well, Moses, who wrote this, gives us a

editorial insight. He says in verse one,

"And the Lord appeared to him." So, we

know whether he knew at that point, not

quite so sure, but it's clear. Uh so,

who who are these three? When I first

read this, I thought maybe there's some

sort of trinitarian thing going on here.

Uh but then we discover in chapter 19:1,

two of them are angels in the form of

men. And then we see from chapter 18:33

that one of them was the Lord. So,

there's probably not any Trinitarian

significance to the three turning up

here. But, all of these three, they've

got a combined mission.

Um so, first needs to help Sarah with

her unbelief. And secondly, as we'll see

next week, the angels are to witness and

to weigh the sin of Sodom. But, as for

the Lord,

this seems to be none other than a

pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus

Christ,

the Son of God,

otherwise known as a theophany.

It's the same idea as when you read

about Isaiah and his great vision in

Isaiah chapter 6. Um who did he see? Did

Isaiah 6 · chapter mention

he see the invisible God, the spirit God

who we can't see? No. Actually, John

tells us in the gospel, in his gospel

chapter 12 verse 41, "Isaiah said these

things because he saw his" This is

Jesus' glory and spoke of him. The

context there is Jesus, the image of the

invisible God, the invisible made

visible, as we read at the beginning.

And actually, what we discover in this

pre-incarnate appearance of Christ,

there is a concern

for women.

We see that in the New Testament, don't

we? Jesus is gentle with women.

He deals with them gently. Here, he

deals with Sarah gently. We're going to

look at that as we move into the heart

of our passage now, the Lord's a

question, the Lord's question.

I don't know if pudding um was a thing

in the ancient Middle East,

um but dinner has been eaten,

uh presumably enjoyed as well. Mouths

are being dabbed, napkins folded and

placed back on empty plates.

And now it's time to get down to

business.

For whatever reason,

Sarah hasn't shown herself.

Perhaps that was a cultural thing.

Uh it certainly um was against accepted

etiquette for a stranger to refer to the

lady of the house, especially by name.

But, this is what happens.

And the whole point of this part of the

visit is to challenge Sarah, and renew

her faith. So, verse 9, they said uh

they said to Abraham, they mysterious

why they didn't all speak together or

was one you know, it's it's not entirely

clear, is it? But, they spoke to

Abraham, "Where is Sarah,

your wife?"

It seems to be the first time Sarah is

mentioned in the whole episode. So, how

did they know her name?

And yes, Abraham would be well known in

the region.

But, did you notice they used her new

name?

A name she probably only had for a week

or two. It wouldn't have rippled out

yet.

They use her special new name that was

given to her by God.

But, why did the Lord ask this?

Did he really not know where she was?

You know, are we saying he can read her

heart? We see that bit later in the

passage, but he didn't know where she

was.

That that that doesn't make sense.

It's likely he said this

to get her attention.

He has come and for whatever reason,

social convention,

fear,

bitterness, whatever,

she's not there.

So, quite possibly in a slightly louder

than needed tone, they inquire about

where Sarah is.

And of course, that did what was

intended and halfway through verse 10,

she's now listening

at the tent door behind him. The whole

thing's quite comedic, isn't it?

Um, it's a bit like when you play hide

and seek with a young child. You know,

you can see their feet sticking out from

under the curtains, but you play along,

don't you? So, "Where could they be? I

don't know. Where are they? Under here?

Under there?" And you can see exactly

where they are. She's hiding from him,

but the Lord knows she's there.

So, even if she can't come out or she

won't come out to see him, he goes on to

say what she needs to hear.

But perhaps there is more

to this question

than just to get her attention.

The principal of my old theological

college, Jonathan Stevens,

wrote a book on theophanies,

and he writes this. He says, "Whenever

during a theophany the Lord asks this

type of question,

it is never geographical,

always spiritual.

'Where are you?' The Lord Jesus calls to

Adam in the Garden of Eden.

'Where have you come from and where are

you going?'

The Lord Jesus asks Hagar by the well in

the desert.

'Where is your wife, Sarah?' He asks

Abraham here.

Where was Sarah?

Geographically, she's a few feet behind

the Lord.

Where is she spiritually?

Well, perhaps some way off in the

distance, hiding.

It's a helpful question to ask

ourselves, isn't it?

Where

am I?

We can be so busy with our careers,

so busy with our children, with our

hobbies, our responsibilities, our

sports, our plans. We can be so

distracted by our games, our reels, our

social media, our TV shows that we

neglect our walk with the Lord.

And we can keep up appearances. We keep

coming to church and going through the

motions, but perhaps the relationship is

cooling off. And so it's a good question

to think

where am I

in my relationship with the Lord? Where

am I?

Or perhaps life has been so painful

and it's been one stress after another.

It's been one disappointment after

another and you're struggling. You have

faith, at least you think you have

faith,

but it's all a bit confused now.

Maybe you're on your way to losing sight

of the Lord, but you know he never loses

sight of his children.

He's not forgotten about you.

Sarah seems to have given up and become

cynical, but the Lord hasn't given up on

her.

And the Lord speaks her name, he gets

her attention. He doesn't demand that

she be brought out,

like put on some sort of trial.

Uh she's not put on the spot here. He's

going to speak to her, but indirectly

for now.

And you know how sometimes how God deals

with us?

He doesn't have a one-size-fits-all

way of dealing and speaking with his

children. He knows exactly the right way

to reach out, to speak to you. It might

be through some Christian friend.

It might be in the middle of a sermon.

It might be through something completely

un-Christian, like you're listening to

something on the radio and you just know

God is speaking.

The good shepherd goes looking for his

lost sheep,

and that's what we see.

I do wonder as well whether there's a

subtle rebuke for Abraham here. Where is

Sarah?

Your wife. Where Where is she, Abraham?

Huh? Abraham

really impressed upon her all that the

Lord had promised?

Had he taken time to explain,

to listen to her, to reassure her, to to

bring her along with him in this this

great journey of faith?

And husbands,

where is your wife?

Do you know?

Of course, sometimes with the best will

in the world,

husbands or wives fall away.

And all the careful, loving challenge,

and help, and prayer,

they seem to make little difference.

But we should be aware of each other

spiritually.

Do you know where they are, those

closest to you?

Well, Abraham knows where she is

physically. She's in the in the tent. He

may well know where she is spiritually,

too.

But although we can nurture each other

in the faith, it's for God to produce

that faith. We we know we can't make our

loved ones have faith if they don't have

it, can we? We can't generate that as

much as we might want to and love to and

pray about it. We can't make that

miracle happen in them.

That's something God has got to do.

And perhaps that was what was going

through Abraham's mind as he sat in the

heat of the day.

How can I help Sarah believe?

How can I help her? Lord, I can't do

this. Lord, please help Sarah in this in

this struggle she's having. I can't do

it.

Men and women,

are you praying for your other half, if

you've got another half? Are you praying

for your children?

For your parents?

Abraham looks up and there's the three

strangers. And what I've just given you

is a bit of speculation.

But now let's get back to the the the

story. There's there's the three three

strangers. They've been welcomed in,

they've been fed. The Lord is called

Sarah's name. He knows he's got her

undivided attention.

And so he repeats the promise in her

earshot, verse 10. The Lord said, "I

will surely return to you about this

time next year, and Sarah your wife

shall have a son."

And Sarah was listening at the door, the

tent door behind him. Just put in there

just to like make sure we get it. She's

there she's listening. It's quite funny

really, isn't it?

Uh if she'd believed God at this moment,

what joy she would have had.

Years, decades worth of of dreaming, of

hoping, perhaps praying as as promised

to be fulfilled.

But she misses the joy.

Because actually at that moment the

common sense facts speak louder than the

faith.

As verse 11 reminds us, they were old.

And Sarah is postmenopausal.

She couldn't have kids in her prime when

she was young.

And and now she's old and it's just it's

definitely not going to happen now. It's

humanly impossible, isn't it? It's not

going to happen.

And so Sarah's response here is humanly

understandable. It's a response based on

the facts, not on faith. She considers

herself worn out. That's the word she

uses. That's the word used to describe

clothes that were sort of sun-bleached,

threadbare desert clothes. They've been

there that's it's just it's just worn

out. It's it's good for nothing. That's

how she sees herself. That's her.

And as for Abraham, she calls him her

lord. That was a sign of respect and

submission.

But as for Abraham, he was old.

Was she really meant to believe this

idea she's going to have a child at this

point in her life?

I mean, they just it's just bonkers,

isn't it? And so she laughs to herself.

It's not like Abraham's laugh in the

last chapter.

This is an unbelieving laugh.

But she cannot, she will not accept

this.

The years of dashed hopes,

the impossibility of the situation means

she she can't bring herself

to entrust herself

to the Lord. She can't bring herself to

believe what God is saying.

And she's she's bang on really, isn't

she? What's being said is totally

unbelievable.

It could only

ever be possible if God performed a

miracle. That's the only way this is

ever going to happen.

But she can't accept that. And so she

laughs to herself.

But the Lord doesn't leave her in her

unbelief, and so he asks Abraham, "Why

did she laugh?"

And Abraham probably hasn't got an idea

what's going on here. He doesn't know

she's laughed. Perhaps it's starting to

dawn on him that greater things are

going on than just a meal. And he's

actually for this part anyway, he's a

bystander in the drama that's going on.

And before she can stop herself, her

disembodied voice denies it. I I didn't

laugh.

She's blown her cover.

And she's lied to the Lord as well.

So the Lord gently but firmly reaffirms

the truth.

And we need to remember you can't

pretend before God.

Perhaps there's someone here who thinks

God doesn't really know me. He doesn't

know my situation. He doesn't know my

deepest thoughts and my struggles. How

can he possibly know me? And we need to

remember God knows you better than you

know yourself.

He sees you.

So, what happens next?

Does she stay in her unbelief?

Does she stay a cynic?

Laughing at Abraham for his naive trust.

Well, according to Hebrews chapter 11

Hebrews 11:11

verse 11, um we read this, "By faith

Sarah herself received power to conceive

even when she was past the age, since

she considered him faithful

who had promised."

So, she's moved from that place of

unbelief to a place of belief. And it

must have been this encounter with Jesus

that did it. For he confronts her

thoughts and her unbelief.

And and he doesn't say just just try and

have some positive thoughts about this.

He doesn't just say just wish for some

good luck.

Or, you know, you and Abraham just need

to try a bit harder. Come on, you know,

get some romance going.

The Lord points back to his own power

and asks this question in verse 14, "Is

anything too hard for the Lord?"

Is anything too hard for the Lord? You

see, Sarah, it's not about how old you

are.

It's not about how likely this thing is

that's been promised. It's not about if

you can think of a clever way to do to

make this happen. If the Lord has

promised it, then that is that.

Is there anything too hard for the Lord?

By the way, the implied answer is no.

There's nothing that's too hard for the

Lord. Nothing that is beyond the Lord.

And I suggest that meditating

on this little phrase that will be of

great help to those of us who struggle.

Perhaps you think your um

sinful habits,

the ones you've stayed with you for for

many years, your addictions,

your bad personality traits.

Maybe you think they are too hard for

the Lord to help with.

Maybe you think God is able to sanctify

everybody else

except for you.

Maybe you think that your sin alone,

your sin alone is the one thing that

Jesus is unable

to deal with and to pay for.

And he can save everyone else, but when

it comes to me, somehow I just I I just

struggle to believe that. Do you know?

We we can be like that.

Is there anything too hard for the Lord?

Maybe you don't enter into the full joy

of your salvation because you just can't

seem to trust the fact that he has paid

for all of your sin.

And when you stand to praise, you've got

these nagging things in the background

of your mind. Yeah, but I did that. I

did that.

And it's hard to just embrace what he

has done for you.

Will you not believe what he's done for

you?

Or maybe you find yourself, you know,

thinking about this mission

uh

year, and it's really hard to invite

someone. And and and we kind of think,

well, I don't want to invite someone

because A, they might not come. Well,

yeah, they might not come. Well, B, you

think, well well God might not save

them. And yeah, he might not save them,

but do you know what? He can. And he

might.

Of course, we're not called to trust God

for what he hasn't promised.

This isn't blind faith, just trusting in

something random out there. We are

called to take him at his word.

But the gospel does say that he will be

with us, that for all whose faith is in

Jesus, we are new in him. That's what

baptism pictures.

We've died with Christ, we're buried

with him, we've been raised to new life,

we've been washed clean.

I wonder

if you're struggling to believe, is

there anything too hard for the Lord?

Sometimes you might think about the new

heavens

and the new earth,

your eternal life, being with Christ.

And you think, "Oh, it just seems so

bonkers. It seems so out there. Can I

Can I really believe all of that?"

And then we come back to this phrase,

don't we? Is there anything too hard for

the Lord?

In truth, there are many things we don't

know if the Lord will answer or do

something for us. We don't have those

specific promises for if our child or

our spouse will ever come to know the

Lord. We don't know. They might, but we

don't know.

We don't know if he will ever heal us of

that thing. We don't know if he will

protect us against getting cancer. We

don't know if we'll have an easy or a

happy marriage. We don't know if our

great plans and ambitions will ever

succeed. I don't know, but what I do

know is

that if you are in Christ,

God is for you.

And that he will do what it takes to

save and to sanctify you.

He might have to shout at you sometimes

and really get your attention. And there

might be all sorts of things that come

into your life so that he gets your

attention.

Or maybe he will be a lot more subtle in

other times.

And he'll subtly repeat things in your

hearing as you're hiding behind the

tent.

But what we can be assured of is that

there is nothing too hard for the Lord.

So, we're not to trust in our own

strength.

Don't despair because of your difficult

circumstances.

Rather, believe him who has promised he

will save you.

If your faith is in Jesus,

he will save you.

Entrust yourself to him.

You repent, but you're still struggling

with those sins.

Come back to the Lord and entrust

yourself to him. Lord, I I can't do

this. I need your help. Lord, help.

If we don't know, well, sorry, we don't

know

what specific path our journey of faith

will take, but we know who takes it with

us, and we know how it ends. It ends in

overflowing joy with Christ and his

people.

That's the end of your story.

Is anything too hard for the Lord?

Later, as Sarah cradles Isaac in her

hands, no doubt she would remember this

day, a day that was etched on her mind,

the day when everything changed.

Perhaps as she looked back on this, her

cheeks would glow a little bit red as

she remembered how she laughed and tried

to pretend before the Lord.

But then she would smile as she

remembered that also it was the day the

Lord came to her

and rekindled her faith amidst all the

fear and failure.

I wonder if the Lord has been speaking

to you this morning.

Where are you?

Is he calling you back to himself this

morning?

Is this the day you will look back on

and remember, yes, that's the day the

Lord remind reminded me,

is there anything too hard for the Lord?

Let's just be quiet before our Lord for

a moment.